Asia

Gajisan is the highest mountain in the Ulsan area, and considered one of the top 100 most beautiful mountains in Korea. I’d wanted to climb it since we got here; we only live half an hour away from the hiking trails.

The clank of the air conditioning unit. The footfall of my steps on the marble staircase. At the glass door the local stray moggie strolls across my path, dirty with yellow dust. Across the street an old woman in a fluoro vest and visor pulls a metal shopping trolley behind her. She wears a towel over her head to protect from the sun, despite the smog on the mountains giving the sky a grey pallor.

We went to the Ulsan Whale Festival expecting a park full of kooky Koreans dressed in traditional clothing and abundant weird photographic opportunities. But no, instead we got expat central and a giant floating whale on the river.

We took the KTX train to Gyeongju which is about 20 minutes from Eonyang to check out the Gyeongju Cherry Blossom Festival. We met up with another Justin from our church in Ulsan. Justin and I share a few parallels aside from being blessed with such a just and mighty name. We pursued theological and musical studies, and left to our own devices we enjoy leisurely time at home, truth be told a little too much chillaxing is on the menu. So fortunately we have my indefatigable wife to engineer this outdoor adventure, the intrepid and highly organised Mrs Kat who arranged and controlled proceedings leading the two Justins.

The easiest way to identify a bulgogi restaurant is by the happy cow sign, lit up in neon glory. Their cartoon smiles hide the copious amounts of dead beef about to be consumed by businessmen, families and hapless western teachers.

Kat: A lot has happened to the monkeys in the last month, which would have been relayed to you, dear readers, much sooner if our internet would work. Yes, despite what you’ve heard about South Korean internet, we have not seen the super fast connections that allow Koreans to play Starcraft at warp speed in our apartment. My grandma has faster internet.

This man was sitting outside the Temple of Literature in Vietnam. It is a Confucian temple, dating back to 1070 and sits in the city of Hanoi. Scholars and thinkers trained here; memorials to their learning scatter the grounds.

I visited Thailand last November on a scholarship to teach English in Thailand. With one night in Bangkok, I decided to make the most of the following morning to take some photos before travelling up to Phitsanulok. I love getting up in the early morning to walk around cities.